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Zhuhai

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City of Zhuhai
珠海市
Prefecture-level city
The "Fisher Girl" (渔女) statue in Zhuhai - the emblem of the city
The "Fisher Girl" (渔女) statue in Zhuhai - the emblem of the city
CountryChina
ProvinceGuangdong
Government
 • CPC Committee SecretaryGan Lin (甘霖)
 • MayorZhong Shijian (钟世坚)
Area
 • Total1,653 km2 (638 sq mi)
 • Water690 km2 (270 sq mi)
Population
 • Total1,332,000
 • Density810/km2 (2,100/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+8 (China Standard Time)
Postal code
519000
Area code756
License plate prefixes粤C
- Total¥ 54.628 billion (2004)
- Per capita¥ 41,800 (2004)
Website[1] (Chinese)

Zhuhai (Chinese: 珠海; pinyin: Zhūhǎi; lit. "Pearl Sea") is a prefecture-level city on the southern coast of Guangdong province in the People's Republic of China. Located in the Pearl River Delta, Zhuhai borders Jiangmen to the northwest, Zhongshan to the north, and Macau to the south. Zhuhai was one of the original Special Economic Zones established in the 1980s.

Administration

The prefecture-level city of Zhuhai administers 3 county-level divisions and 2 special districts, all of which are districts.

Geography

Zhuhai borders the Macau Special Administrative Region (north and west), and 140 km southwest of Guangzhou. Its territory counts 146 islands and a coastline of 690 km.

The islands within the prefecture-level city of Zhuhai include a number of near-shore islands, often connected to the mainland by bridges or causeways (such as Hengqin, Qi'ao, or Yeli Islands), as well as some islands further away in the Pearl River estuary (such as the Nei Lingding Island) or the open South China Sea (the Wanshan Archipelago). Some of the latter are actually geographically closer to Hong Kong than to the Zhuhai mainland.

Economy

Gongbei Road

Zhuhai became a city in 1979, a year before it was named as one of the first Special Economic Zones (SEZ). The neighboring city of Shenzhen became the first Special Economy Zone in 1978. The implementation of this policy is logical as Zhuhai is located on the strategic position facing Macau, in the identical fashion by which Shenzhen faces Hong Kong. This enabled the Chinese Central Government to open another "window" in front of Macau. Even though the city is situated at the southern end of the Pearl River Delta area, Zhuhai acts as one of the central cities in the Pearl River Delta according to the new general urban plan approved by the State Council. The implementation of Special Economy Zone means that the city will grow as a powerful modern port city, science and education city, scenic and tourism city, and as a regional hub for transportation.

The outstanding geographic location, a wide range of supporting infrastructure and a deep-water port serve as a major attraction for foreign capital. Utilized foreign investment reached US$ 0.94 billion in 2002. Among the top 500 enterprises worldwide, 19 of them have investment projects in Zhuhai such as ExxonMobil, British Petroleum, Siemens, Carrefour and Matsushita. Hong Kong is the largest foreign investor in Zhuhai accounting for 22% of total utilized foreign investment in 2002.

Manufacturing industries

Industrial development in Zhuhai focuses on 5 new high-tech and heavy industries including electronics, computer software, biotechnology and pharmacy, machinery and equipment as well as petrochemical industries. Aiming to strengthen the existing industrial base as well as to provide a better environment for the development of new high-tech industries, the local government has taken the initiative in developing five economic zones:

  • Zhuhai High-Tech Industrial Development Zone
  • Zhuhai free trade zone
  • Harbour industrial zone (provincial level)
  • Wanshan ocean development testing zone (provincial level)
  • Heng Qin economic development zone (provincial level)

Transportation

Zhuhai Road

Air

Zhuhai Sanzao Airport (IATA: ZGSD, ICAO: ZUH) is located in Doumen District.

Land

At present, there is an expressway linking Zhuhai and Foshan. Heavy traffic between Zhuhai and Macau has led to the construction of a new cross-border corridor, the Lotus Bridge, built in November 1999 to divert traffic away from the congested Gongbei gate. As part of the Pearl River Delta integration, a Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge is projected.

Sea

An attractive and clean environment and good deep-port condition are advantages of Zhuhai. Endowed by a long coastline, Zhuhai is the only city on the western Pearl River Delta with natural deep-water ports.

Zhuhai has two international seaports: Jiuzhou (九州港) and Gaolan (高蘭港). Gaolan Port is one of the leading ports in Guangdong Province, while Jiuzhou Port focuses on heavy passenger sea transport.

Chu Kong Passenger Transport operates a ferry service between Zhuhai's Jiuzhou Port, Hong Kong and Shekou (蛇口,）which is the Shenzhen ferry port. A service between Jiuzhou Port and Hong Kong International Airport for air passengers using the airport began on 10 July 2007.[1]

Tourism

Picturesque fishing harbor Xiangzhou, with the forested Yeli Island in the background

The attractive environment and natural landscapes bolster Zhuhai's reputation as a garden city and a model city of best living environment. In 2002, the city attracted 1.3 million international tourists and 3.64 million domestic tourists. Following Guangzhou and Shenzhen, Zhuhai is the third city in Guangdong province earning the largest foreign exchange from international tourism, which amounted to US$0.5 billion in 2002.

Realizing the substantial benefits brought by tourism, the local government is constantly improving the existing tourist spots and exploring new tourist resources. The local government is developing new tourist spots such as Hengqin (橫琴島), Dong'ao (東澳), Hebao (荷包), Qi'ao (淇澳島) and Yeli (野狸).

Highlights

  • The New Yuan Ming Palace (圓明新園) is a park of 1.39 km², including an 80,000 m² lake. It features a partial reconstruction of the Old Summer Palace in Beijing, destroyed in 1860 by French and British troops during the second Opium War, which was never rebuilt on its original site.

Education

Strategic development

Developing a university park is Zhuhai's strategy to strengthen its high-tech and IT industries. Compared with Beijing and Shanghai, Zhuhai and other cities in Guangdong province face a serious shortage of talent and professionals, making this goal difficult. The local government is taking major initiatives to set up a university park with an area of 20 km², the only one in the western Pearl River Delta.

Colleges and universities

A number of other colleges and universities are also located in or near Zhuhai. The Zhuhai College of Beijing Normal University (officially named Beijing Normal University Zhuhai Campus) was created as a new model university in China and comprises a number of independent colleges. The entrance mark required (558 in 2006) is lower than that of Beijing Normal University (Beijing) and the degree awarded is not of the same status. United International College (UIC) is one of the three postsecondary institution in Mainland China where English is the medium of instruction.

Sports facilities

Zhuhai is the first city in China to have constructed a motor racing circuit. The Zhuhai International Circuit was built in 1996 and is located at Jinding, near the border to Zhongshan.

ZIC has held the BPR Global GT Endurance Series in 1996, the FIA GT Championship in 1997, 1999, 2004 and 2005. It hosted the championship's 2007 opening round on 24th and 25 March.

ZIC had planned to host a round of the Champ Car World Series on 20 May 2007, but agreement was not reached.

ZIC held an A1GP race in 2007 for the first time in series' history.

Residential environment

"Mao Family Restaurant" serves "Chairman Mao's favorite dishes"

Zhuhai's international accolades include "the Best Model of International Residential Environment Improvement" awarded by the United Nations.

Sister city

Zhuhai is a sister city of:

See also

References

  1. ^ http://www.news.gov.hk/en/category/infrastructureandlogistics/070710/html/070710en06002.htm
  2. ^ "Surrey's Sister Cities". Retrieved 2008-12-02.
  3. ^ "Redwood City's Sister Cities".

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Zhuhai.


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